|
I went to Tractor Supply, and bought a 120-gallon galvanized steel livestock trough for my mice. They seem to do well in the communal environment, with a lot of room to move around. The tank is 48" long, 24" wide, and 24" high. The steel is very slippery, so I don't even need a lid with the 2-foot height.
I have several exercise wheels, and hide boxes for them. I remove late-term pregnant females to a 30-gallon aquarium to nurse their babies in peace. Then everyone goes back into the community tank. I euthanize as often as I need to, to keep the crowding to a minimum. Surplus goes in the freezer. It's nice to have all sizes of feeders available, as I have snakes of all sizes.
Oh, I go to the grain-processing plant, and get a hamster/gerbil seed mix in 50-lb. bags, to which I add oatmeal, Cheerios, and Mazuri mouse breeder blocks. My animals do very well on that diet, and the females have large, healthy litters.
Seems like a lot of work, but with just the one big enclosure, it's not too time-consuming. And with 50+ snakes, I need a large, steady supply. I sell some surplus locally.
Kathy
|